Beltrán Is Talking to Himself, but Is Still Muted at the Plate

By JACK CURRY

Published: June 20, 2007

Carlos Beltr?talked to himself in the batting cage yesterday, giving himself little reminders about what he should do. Stay back. See the ball. Hit the ball. Do not pull every pitch. He swung, then went back to talking to himself.

That routine occurred about three and a half hours before the Mets played the Minnesota Twins at Shea Stadium. When Beltr?was finished tinkering and talking, he returned to his locker, pulled off a sweaty shirt, put on a dry one and drifted onto the field for some more pregame work.

Eventually, Beltr?said, he will get it right. His swing will feel pure, his confidence level will soar and he will not have to speak to himself as much. Everything will feel automatic. See it, hit it and celebrate it. Some day, maybe soon, Beltr?knows he will be a lethal hitter again.

''Every year, you go through a slump,'' he said. ''Every player goes through that. Some slumps are worse than others. The main thing is you got to keep working, keep going to the cage and keep trying new things.''

Today, Beltr?and the Mets will have to try something new. Nothing worked for them last night in a lethargic 9-0 loss to Johan Santana and the Twins. Not only did Santana pitch a tidy four-hitter, but he also had a double, one more extra-base hit than Beltr?and the rest of the Mets mustered.

Unlike first baseman Carlos Delgado, a struggling teammate who hiked up his socks to try to change his luck, Beltr?made no uniform adjustments. He is simply talking to himself to give himself second-by-second lessons.

Beltr? a switch-hitter who is 9 for 62 (.145) with one homer in June, said teams had been pitching him away. But instead of smacking those outside pitches to the opposite field, Beltr?has tried to pull them, and that has produced a stream of feeble outs. Beltr?went 0 for 4 against Santana, but he hammered two deep fly balls into the swirling winds at Shea.

To combat the urge to pull outside pitches, Beltr?said he was trying to be patient and let the ball travel as deep as possible. The longer he is able to wait, the better chance he has of hitting pitches the opposite way.

Manager Willie Randolph said that Beltr?had to be cognizant of not being ''too pull happy.'' Randolph said slumping hitters try to ''get that 0-for-whatever back in one swing,'' which he said was natural. Especially for a marquee player like Beltr? a $119 million center fielder who is expected to produce huge numbers.

But even as Beltr?reminds himself to be patient, it is not always easy. When he is struggling, he said, he becomes too eager and wants to catch up with fastballs. That works against him, though, because he commits too early.

''Your mind is telling you that you don't feel right and you need to rush,'' Beltr?said. ''So you rush to get to the ball. That's one of the worst mistakes you can make.''

Beltr?and Delgado have been ineffective with runners in scoring position, combining to go 2 for 41 in a recent stretch. With men in scoring position and two outs, Beltr?is 3 for 24 this season.

In batting practice, Beltr?said, he works on situational hitting, envisioning a man on second or third and trying to drive him in. But during games, Beltr?said he did not think about the runners in scoring position and was merely trying to sting the ball.

''If you hit the ball hard, that's the only thing you can control,'' he said. ''We don't really control where the ball goes. If it works out, it feels great.''

Beltr?s injured left quadriceps has not felt great. But one day after saying he would not discuss the matter anymore, he mentioned that his legs felt better. Still, Beltr?hinted that his quadriceps remained an issue by explaining how struggling hitters sometimes used too much of their upper body to swing instead of relying on their legs.

''Hitting is all about legs,'' Beltr?said.

Delgado's legs were a topic of conversation, too. He normally wears his pants to his ankles, so no stirrups are seen, but he lifted them above his shins. Did he expect the look to bring him luck?

''We'll find out,'' said Delgado, who learned it did not. He went 0 for 3.

When Beltr?thought about opposing Santana while he was trying to solve his hitting woes, he shook his head.

''Hitting, try to figure it out some time,'' Beltr?said. ''Good luck.''